Gallions Reach 1928

James McBey made this watercolour painting of Gallions Reach sometime in the early 20th century, and what strikes me is how he's captured the way the sky seems to mirror the water. I can almost feel him standing there, trying to capture the light, the movement, the sheer vastness of the space. He’s using these washes of blues and greys, thin and transparent, almost like he’s breathing the scene onto the paper. Look how the brushstrokes flow horizontally across the surface, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. And those clouds! They're like big, fluffy question marks hanging in the air. You know, painting water like this is hard. It's all about capturing the reflections, the ripples, the way the light dances on the surface. I bet McBey was really wrestling with it, trying to find the right balance between representation and abstraction. I feel like Turner would have liked this one. It’s like they’re both having a conversation about light, space, and the sublime.